1 Fatally Injured When Vehicle Crashes into SF Valley Car Dealership

SAN FERNANDO VALLEY, CA -- An investigation is continuing today after a woman drove an SUV through a service bay and into the reception area of a Mission Hills car dealership -- killing one person and sending two others to a hospital with lesser injuries.

The crash occurred at a Toyota dealership in the 11000 block of North Sepulveda Boulevard at about 9:10 a.m. Wednesday, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.

The department said an ``elderly'' woman who may have accidentally hit the accelerator instead of the brake drove the SUV into the covered service bay driveway and crashed into a customer reception area within the dealership.

A 56-year-old female customer was run over and briefly trapped beneath the vehicle, but was freed by bystanders, including a nurse who began performing CPR on the woman, who was not breathing and had no pulse, fire officials said. That woman was taken to a hospital in grave condition, but she later died, police said.

Her name was not immediately released.

Two men who worked at the dealership were also injured -- a 23-year-old man with an arm laceration and a 35-year-old man with head and foot injuries, according to the fire department. Their injuries were considered non-life-threatening, but both were taken to a hospital in fair to serious condition.

The woman who was driving the SUV was examined by paramedics but did not appear to be injured and declined to be taken to a hospital, fire officials said. She remained at the scene and was interviewed by police before reportedly being released.

The vehicle she was driving had handicap license plates.

-- City News Service